Brown Butter Sugar Cookies Recipe (with Video)

For the cookie dough
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper/silicone mat.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Now, brown the butter. In a saucepan over medium heat, add in all of the unsalted butter. Continuously stir with a whisk or rubber spatula. After the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Then, the foaming will stop and brown specks will start to form at the bottom of the pan. The color change will be fairly quick, so keep an eye on the butter. Remove the pan from heat once you smell a nutty aroma and the butter becomes golden brown. Transfer to a heat-safe bowl and let slightly cool.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the cooled, melted brown butter and both sugars until combined.
5. Add egg and vanilla extract to the mixture. Whisk until combined.
6. Dump in all of the dry ingredients. Fold together using rubber spatula until no dry flour remains.
7. Use cookie scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½ tablespoons each) and roll into granulated sugar.
8. To make bears (optional): For the ears, take about 1 tsp of dough , split it in 2, and place on top left and right sides of the head. Repeat for other bears, spacing the cookies about 3 inches apart.
9. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.
10. Remove from oven.
11. Allow to cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.
For the faces
1. You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used a piping bag for the and ears, eyes, and snout, then a scribe for the blush.
2. Use melted white chocolate to add the snouts and ears.
3. Use melted dark or milk chocolate to draw on the eyes and nose.
4. To the remaining white chocolate, add a drop of oil-based pink food coloring. Use this for the blush. If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
5. Enjoy!